The animals in your home are going to be affected by your relocation as well as family members. Dogs are particularly tuned into the emotions of their owner, and all the hustle and bustle of preparing for the removalists will have them fretting days before it happens. Cats may appear to be cool, calm, collected, and their usual distant self, but they will be stressed and a bit confused as you prepare to move.

Stay Close

Cats and dogs are quite sensitive to any changes in their environment and may even be worried in an animal sort of way that you are abandoning them. It’s a good idea to keep them with you at the old property for as long as you can so that you don’t leave them unattended in an unfamiliar place for long. Kindness, patience and some understanding will help them overcome any fright or nervousness about what is happening around them.

Aquariums

It’s highly recommended that you give your fish and aquarium away prior to moving as they are extremely delicate and in many cases will not survive a home move.

If you have a very expensive set up and the fish must come with you, then you need to make adequate preparations. Set up a container for the fish by placing water from the tank into it with the fish. This keeps the specific bacteria colony maintained. Place your fish into the container.

When is a move not a move? If you’re removals are to another nearby home, that’s a simple move. If you’re removalist is taking you somewhere that’s about an 8 hour drive away, or to another state, that’s almost a paradigm shift! So, not all moves are the same. Here are a few things to think about when you are planning that relocation.

Preparations

If the move is to a house still in the same neighbourhood and you can still visit friends frequently, or when you come to work, a change of address will not be necessary if you have a post office box. Some mail senders may have to be notified if they have to send letters to your home address, that is street and number. Of course, if you have not got a PO Box, then you will still have to notify address change to utilities, banks and government departments.

Moving to another city? Well, everything needs to be changed. Banking should be okay if you do it online.

Schools and Kids

What about school for the kids? Local move? No problem, the children will go to the same school and it stays the same. Move to another city and the children will face a stressful period getting used to a whole new system and new friends. It’s a tough ask.

Transportation

If your move is reasonably local, you can carry many small items to your new home a week before the big move. It’s a good preparation for the moving day when the truck will arrive with all your furniture.

A long distance move means putting as many valuables as you can fit into the car for the one of trip. The rest will have to go in the truck.

Packing is anything but pleasant and is the last thing anyone wants to do. The entire process can be a complete nightmare from boxing your belongings to actually getting them transported to the right location. Whether you are hiring professional removal of services or doing everything yourself, the following are five moving house tips to help with your relocation.

1. Start Early

This one is obvious but is worth mentioning. Starting as early as possible with the relocation gives you time to start organising and making the necessary preparations. This is also a great time to make a week by week checklist to keep you on track.

Waiting until the last moment will definitely cost you a significance of stress. Most people tend to underestimate how much effort it takes to relocate to another property which is why it is so important to start immediately.

2. Get Rid of Junk

Why waste your time and energy on moving things you rarely use? When relocating to a new home, you should first take inventory of everything you have and categorise them accordingly. This can easily be done with a simple pen and paper.

Everything that you do not use from old furniture to clothes that you have outgrown should either be sold or donated. This will help reduce the amount of stuff that you have to transport. There are also options for dumpster rentals depending on where you are.

Wait! Is there really anything to not pack when you are moving? Naturally, you need to pack everything, but some things are better left off the furniture truck.

These can go into the boot of the car so you will have them right at hand when you arrive. When you consider that this will usually be quite late in the day and you’ll all be tired and hungry, two things to not pack for the truck are food and bedding.

Food and utensils

On the day of the move, you will need to be up early to get those last minute things packed. You’ll have the crockery and cutlery that you left out for last minute use, the things from the refrigerator and your breakfast cereals. These can all go in the car so you will have them handy for the next morning – the first morning in your new home. You won’t have had time to unpack much by then, so having food and utensils handy will be a boon.

Take an esky

If you travelling far, you might want to pack an esky with snacks and drinks or even sandwiches to save detouring to a fast food place, or just in case there isn’t one handy. A picnic on the grass of some park where the children can run around and let off steam will improve everyone’s mood. If the esky goes into the boot, make sure some drinks and snacks stay in the back of the car where they are easily accessible.

When you decide to call the removalists in, you have to pack every single thing in the house. However there are always some things that you don’t really need.

These are things that may once have been useful, or that you really liked, but now your lifestyle has changed and you never use them. Rather than just carting them around and allowing them to clutter up your storage space, why not get rid of them?

Most of us can do without a lot of the stuff stored in the cupboards. Old craft or hobbies, sports equipment we no longer play with, toys the children have outgrown and even that old vase you got for a wedding present and always hated, can all go to the recycling centre.

Give it to a friend

It is much easier to pack up a home when it is not cluttered with things that are of no use to you. And knowing that someone else can take them home and love them eases the pain of parting with them. Very often, friends might well be delighted with that picture you no longer want, or some toys that her younger children could well make use of.

Have a garage sale

If none of your friends wants what you have to get rid of, consider having a garage sale. All you need to do is advertise, get all the stuff together in one place like the garage or front lawn and set up a table from which to sell it. You can get the whole family involved to help you with this and you’ll have fun doing it. Add in some clothes you no longer love wearing or that don’t fit anyone and you’ll have even less to pack.

If you have never moved house before, learning how to pack properly is essential to ensure your goods do not get damaged.

Some people opt to let the furniture removalists to it all, but other prefer to do it themselves. If you are going to do your own packing, here are some tips to help you.

Don’t pack all the same items in one box. For instance, a box full of books can be really heavy. It is better to pack some books on the bottom of a box, then cover that with something soft such as sheets or a blanket before adding breakables. This can make good padding in the box to ensure your breakables are better protected. Plus, the box won’t be as heavy. Remember, you’ll probably have to more it yourself at some time before your due moving date.

When it comes to crockery, it is a good idea to wrap each cup and mug separately. Even if mugs fit snugly into one another, make sure there is a layer of paper or bubble wrap between them so they don’t chip.

Plates can stack on top of each other, but make sure these too, have two or more layers of something between them. In fact, wrapping each plate completely is better because that protects the sides from getting chipped. Always start off with the largest, heaviest plates and then add smaller items to fill in the spaces.

Wrap knives carefully and pack them into the centre of the box so the points cannot protrude.

Crumple newspaper or bubble wrap up and insert in small spaces that are left over so that the goods cannot rattle around inside the box.

Biro and exercise book to keep track of what you packed in which boxes.

Strong boxes with lids

Strong plastic bags (optional). These can be used for clothing and linen, pillows, blankets, doonas and other soft things that won’t break.

Tea chests. These are larger, deeper and stronger than most cardboard boxes so if you have a lot of smaller items, it may be better to use them. They are also good for such things as removable small glass table tops, mirrors and glass picture frames. Place blankets or a doona at the bottom of the box and over the top before you seal it.